sasuke’s smiles
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Leaving my absolute love for the Sasuke/Naruto teamwork this chapter and for Sasuke’s expression in that last panel, I must confess that being the shipper that I am, I also loved the timing of this chapter for a SasuKarin related reason.
Just a couple of days ago, I was surprised when I came across a couple of people claiming that rather than smiling at Karin, Sasuke had “smirked” at her. Or at most, given her a “soft smirk”.
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Given that Sasuke’s expression this chapter is canonically pointed out to be a smile and his lips were drawn nearly identical to 482, I guess the “Sasuke was just smirking at Karin” just got debunked.
Not to mention that, while his lips were drawn the same way (what differs is the angle), there is a difference between Sasuke’s expression in this chapter (which, again, Kishi did point out to be a smile) and the expression he gave to Karin in 482:
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As Ina-chanz put in in the FC, the difference “is all in the eyes”. Or more specifically, his eyebrows. One gives his smile a self-satisfied (and totally Sasukeish) feel; the other softens it for his eyebrows are relaxed rather than furrowed.
So ironically, the one who at least made a distinction and called Sasuke’s gesture for Karin “soft” was proven to be right on the money this chapter, haha.
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